The German Embassy in Ukraine issued 300,000 visas to Ukrainians in 2011, embassy officials say.

“In truth, the interest in Ukraine concerning visas to Germany is huge. For example, according to statistics, the German consulate handles up to 300,000 visas for Ukrainians per year,” Deputy Cultural Attaché of the German Embassy in Ukraine Cyrus Royamanech said on May 18 during Deutschland Mobil 2012, an embassy information tour in Ivano-Frankivsk.

Royamanech also said concrete steps were being taken by Germany and its embassy in Ukraine to make it easier for Ukrainians to get visas to Ukraine.

“This is, first of all, because everything is no longer centralized in Kyiv. Ukrainians can submit documents for visas in several places, for example, consulates, and honorary consulates working on the territory of Ukraine in particular regions. Besides, some categories of the population can receive visas not in person, but [via] other people,” he said.

The deputy cultural attaché also drew attention to the low number of refusals for visas to Germany that were received by Ukrainians.

“If I’m not mistaken, [last year] the approximate percentage of refusals of the total number of issued visas was about 5-10%. This year it’s even less than 5%.”

Royamanech said the simplification of the visa regime depends on the political relations between Ukraine and EU.

“We certainly realize that Ukrainians wish to be able to travel to EU member states more simply and quickly, but for the moment these processes depend on political decisions. At the moment it’s difficult to estimate how quickly Ukraine could enter the European zone, and when such a free visa regime could come,” he said.